BEETLEJUICE Previews- Page 9

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 4/9/19 at 1:30pm

KayGlass2 said: "I went all the way to DC from NYC because I was so excited about this show. I like the cast (with the exception of Brightman, who I didn't like in SoR), I love the designer, everything SEEMED like a sure fire win.

I've been seeing Broadway shows for coming up on 20 years now. Until Beetlejuice, the worst thing I had seen was Jekyll and Hyde towards the end of the run. This, tho? This is the single worst show I have ever, ever, ever seen in my life.

The. Single. Worst. Show.

Other than Leslie Kritzer giving it her all, Kerry and Rob struggling to liven up the mess, and Sophia Caruso having way more talent than any teenager has the right to have, this is horrific.

The music is bad. The book is bad. The adaptation from movie to stage is HORRIBLE. It's sloppy, lazy, shrill, and cringe-inducing. The set is exquisite, but a set can't save a show. The dumbing down of the movie for the theatre audience is offensive, and the dick-and-sex-fart-oo-look-how-edgy jokes they give Beetlejuice are so far from correct for the character that I can't believe this found a way to the stage - much less transferred like this.

Also, Alex Brightman is horrible."

Thanks for also voicing my thoughts about this mess.

Updated On: 4/9/19 at 01:30 PM

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 4/9/19 at 1:49pm

So true there was no magic to this dismal musical. I wanted to leave at intermission but heck I paid to see this and I stayed in hope it would get better. The music and lyrics were abysmal and even if offered a free ticket I would not return.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/9/19 at 1:51pm

HunterK said: "go seethis, it is a great time and I laughed a lot and also Leslie Kritzer is absolutely getting a TONY nomination."

So glad to see other people seeing how absolutely amazing of a performance Ms. Kritzer is giving. They even added a big song and dance numberin Act 2 that was not there is DC. She is hysterical from start to finish!! She deserves that nomination!

Can anyone who has seen it in DC/NY or just in NY talk about the treatment of the Otho character?
Has it changed since DC? The whole cult thing...just didn't work.

Otho's part is down to one seen and his song is gone. You hear Delia talk about him more than he is on stage. Plus "THE BOX" is now in the trunk of his car....we never see it."

Last night they brought the box into the house and there were cool lighting effects around it.

 

[JuneJune]

Posted: 4/9/19 at 5:24pm

I also saw the show yesterday, and I thought it was really good. Not mind-blowingly amazing, but good enough that I think the passionate hate on this thread is a bit overkill.

I'm really close to loving Beetlejuice, but my criticism is that the show is made up of extreme highs and lows. No in-betweens. I'm either laughing like there's no tomorrow, or just sitting in my chair and twiddling my thumbs.

Overall though, I don't regret going. I'm hoping that they'll fix what they need to, since this is only previews, after all.

Updated On: 4/9/19 at 05:24 PM

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 4/9/19 at 11:11pm

Attended the Tuesday evening performance. By far this was one of the worst shows I’ve ever endured. Having only paid $33.33 the price of admission was the least of my losses. I’ll never regain those lost brain cells or time sitting through the show. Kerry Butler and Rob McClure were enjoyable as was Sophia Anne Caruso. Previously I enjoyed Alex Brightman in School of Rock but from the moment he began his growl of a character I was not hooked. The childish teenage boy humor “Look at these jugs”, “how about my boner”, gratituous profanity, overt sexual jokes - and I am absolutely not a prude - just stopped being funny. For me this belonged with the likes of Off Broadway shows “Evil Dead the musical”, “Silance of the Lambs the musical” and the crashed in out of town tryouts “Casper the Friendly Ghost the musical”. I’ve read prior posts gushing over the sets - it was what I would expect from a Broadway musical with a budget. Even though this wasn’t a show I loved - the audience tonight ate it up! They adored it and gushed. The cult following for the movie will sustain this but not sure for how long.

Updated On: 4/10/19 at 11:11 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 9:54am

The only thing that shocked me about this show was how much the audience seemed to be eating it up. There were raucous cheers throughout and some really huge laughs. And then somewhere in the audience was me, sitting quietly, wanting to be anywhere else. Are there worse musicals? Absolutely. But are there any as charmless as this? The guiding ethos of the show seems to be "more is more." Add a gospel choir! Toss in dancing skeletons! We have an ensemble, so just--throw them on stage somewhere! Turn up the volume! And Alex Brightman: don't worry about charm or mischief or any character choices. Just use a silly voice and crank the knob all the way up! It all just felt desperate--as if Timbers knew if he lowered the volume for even a minute, we would realize how utterly empty the whole show is. Maybe it will be a great big hit, but oh man, I hated it. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 10:04am

NB - I haven’t seen it yet so I’m passing no judgment on the quality of the show, this is just a general observation.

If we go by how much people are laughing during the show then shows like Gettin’ the Band Back Together would still be running. I was there for many previews of that show, and people laughed and had a good time and enjoyed it. It does not mean it had a strong book or even a halfway decent score. And clearly, just from looking at the grosses, those people who were laughing and having a good time did not translate into the kind of word of mouth that sold any amount of tickets (the show was indeed pretty heavily comped through previews). Very few audience members were even interested in the CD, for that matter; it had a disappointingly low pre-order number.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 10:31am

 Billboard has previews of two songs - "Dead Mom" and "Say My Name"

I was a fan of "Dead Mom" from the few recordings going around but this version feels...muted? It's missing the vocal abandon I've heard Caruso use.

"Say My Name" is dreadful. Who is giving this composer all this work? 

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 10:56am

BTW the merchandise wranglers (not the ones behind the counter selling) I'm talking about the A-Holes forcing everyone into a line and handing out plastic coated 8.5 x 11 sell sheets with THUMBNAIL size pictures of the overprices crap they are peddling were the most obnoxious people I have ever encountered. If you merely stood 'out of line' to glance over shoulders at the actual merchandise they would scream at you to stop blocking the area, get in line. I politely told them I wanted to see the actual items and then they went on a rampage. They would only shut the F up when I took the GD plastic card and stood against the wall to look at that. End result...I bought NOTHING. Even if I am not a fan of the show I usually purchase a magnet, pin but even before I saw the show I was DONE with the merchandise. Brilliant customer service. Suggest you bypass the merchandise stand in the lobby and go directly to the one in the back of the Orchestra...that appeared less crowded and didn't have these obnoxious Napoleonic Complex staff harassing the patrons.

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 10:58am

Im glad the audiences are enjoying this, but that in no way translates to a successful run. I enjoyed and ate up The Prom, but only paid $50 for it. So we can't judge a shows long term success financially by audience reactions. 

[Clyde15]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 11:25am

IdinaBellFoster said: "Billboard has previews of two songs - "Dead Mom" and "Say My Name"

I was a fan of "Dead Mom" from the few recordings going around but this version feels...muted? It's missing the vocal abandon I've heard Caruso use.

"Say My Name" is dreadful. Who is giving this composer all this work?"

 

Based on what everyone on this board was saying I expected a lot worse from the music. Is it good? No. Does it sound like pretty much every other teen pop rock musical on and off broadway right now? Yeah. But it doesn’t seem just horrid 

 

[greensgreens]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 5:46pm

Sadly, I fear this may be critic-proof. The 30-40 year old casual (or non-regular) theatre goers who love Tim Burton are gonna love this. And if they can figure out a way for this to tour without scaling too far back, this will cleanup on the road.

I don’t understand the hate on Alex Brightman. He’s obnoxious, grotesque and immature. Exactly like Michael Keaton played it, fart/sex/crude jokes & all. Even as a kid, I thought the character was disgusting. Glad to see that has remained.

They need to cut Otho and streamline some stuff. Lots of things felt WAAAY too shoehorned in to get a “I remember that!” from the audience. The Handbook, Juno and the Netherworld itself are not setup enough for us to care or understand them. The Maitlands are also, sadly, pretty inconsequential and a distraction (like others have said). There’s just a lot of service being paid to iconic things from the movie, but without having that knowledge, I don’t think people would even understand a lot of those things. I also don’t think that they should bother connecting this to the cartoon, which it often seems the BJ/Lydia relationship is modeled after.

It’s still better than Addams Family and none of the actors have egg all over their faces like Nathan & Bebe.

[DrewJoseph]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 5:54pm

I’m looking for tickets for august when I’ll be in NYC. I’ve never been to the Winter Garden but didn’t want to start a new thread about it.

Anyone know if there are seats/rows I should avoid? I’m all for a good full stage view. So I’m looking at center mezzanine (not a big budget unfortunatly), but was wondering if it feels too far away from the stage. Even sitting in thw second to last row there, would that still give a good view of the show?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 6:03pm

The mezz at the Winter Garden is fairly shallow but WIDE! The last row of the mezz in the center section is excellent. You're better off there than a closer seat on the far side.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 6:20pm

Mezz is best for this one. I can’t imagine you get the full effect of the house, projections and that marvelous sandworm closer. I’d also be worried that some of the magic isn’t as cool close up.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 6:26pm

DrewJoseph said: "I’m looking for tickets for august when I’ll be in NYC. I’ve never been to the Winter Garden but didn’t want to start a new thread about it.

Anyone know if there are seats/rows I should avoid? I’m all for a good full stage view. So I’m looking at center mezzanine (not a big budget unfortunatly), but was wondering if it feels too far away from the stage. Even sitting in thw second to last row there, would that still give a good view of the show?"

If there is something that pisses me off it's these constant questions about where will I sit, how is the view etc etc. Don't American theatres have seating plans when you buy your ticket unless it's over the phone?

In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads.

[DrewJoseph]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 6:58pm

SweetLips22 said: "DrewJoseph said: "I’m looking for tickets for august when I’ll be in NYC. I’ve never been to the Winter Garden but didn’t want to start a new thread about it.

Anyone know if there are seats/rows I should avoid? I’m all for a good full stage view. So I’m looking at center mezzanine (not a big budget unfortunatly), but was wondering if it feels too far away from the stage. Even sitting in thw second to last row there, would that still give a good view of the show?"

If there is something that pisses me off it's these constant questions about where will I sit, how is the view etc etc. Don't American theatres have seating plans when you buy your ticket unless it's over the phone?

In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads."

Wow, someone had a bad day? It’s totally fine to speak your mind and I can def understand where you’re coming from. But you really don’t have to attack me like this. Imo it’s really not that weird, when spending $100+ on a seat, to ask for some advice from people who’ve already been.

Thanks to those who’ve shared their thoughts for me. You just calm down, I’m not gonna post here again so I won’t clog up this thread any further. Don’t mind to reply to this post as well.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 7:00pm

SweetLips22 said: "If there is something that pisses me off it's these constant questions about where will I sit, how is the view etc etc. Don't American theatres have seating plans when you buy your ticket unless it's over the phone?

In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads."

This seems like a severe overreaction. Yes all theatre box offices have seating charts, but that doesn't give you information on what seats are best for a particular production. For instance, the far sides of the mezz at the Winter Garden are not great for Beetlejuice but were more than suitable for Wolf Hall because of the way it was staged. I see absolutely no problem with people asking for seating advice. Not really sure why it makes you so angry.

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 7:01pm

SweetLips22 said: "DrewJoseph said: "I’m looking for tickets for august when I’ll be in NYC. I’ve never been to the Winter Garden but didn’t want to start a new thread about it.

Anyone know if there are seats/rows I should avoid? I’m all for a good full stage view. So I’m looking at center mezzanine (not a big budget unfortunatly), but was wondering if it feels too far away from the stage. Even sitting in thw second to last row there, would that still give a good view of the show?"

If there is something that pisses me off it's these constant questions about where will I sit, how is the view etc etc. Don't American theatres have seating plans when you buy your ticket unless it's over the phone?

In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads."

Most Aussie theatres are fairly new and modern unlike the Broadway theatres. Whats a good seat in one theatre is terrible in the next. Different shows have different sight lines. Some have Circles and Balconies that block more or less of the stage.

You need to lighten up x

[SNAFU]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 7:23pm

^ 

This!

 

[taylortrensch]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 8:09pm

SweetLips22 said: "In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads."

imagine being so upset over something you read on the internet... chill out

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 11:17pm

SweetLips22 said:  "If there is something that pisses me off it's these constant questions about where will I sit, how is the view etc etc. Don't American theatres have seating plans when you buy your ticket unless it's over the phone?

In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads."

I very much hear you that its annoying sometimes to read countless hyperspecific questions about seating, especially if you arent going to see the show, have already seen the show, or just buy great seats to whatever you want. 

but the notion that you can just tell from looking at a seating chart is flat out wrong. Every theater is different, and more to the point, every production is different. Acting like its unwarranted to ask these questions isn't just rude, its ignorant. 

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 11:26pm

SweetLips22 said: "DrewJoseph said: "I’m looking for tickets for august when I’ll be in NYC. I’ve never been to the Winter Garden but didn’t want to start a new thread about it.

Anyone know if there are seats/rows I should avoid? I’m all for a good full stage view. So I’m looking at center mezzanine (not a big budget unfortunatly), but was wondering if it feels too far away from the stage. Even sitting in thw second to last row there, would that still give a good view of the show?"

If there is something that pisses me off it's these constant questions about where will I sit, how is the view etc etc. Don't American theatres have seating plans when you buy your ticket unless it's over the phone?

In Australia if at the box office or online, you see the seating plan, choose you seat and buy---that's it. You might get advice at the BO. Be an adult, make your own decision, or MODS, start another heading--Seating Advice and stop clogging up threads."

Someone hasn’t gotten laid in a very long time. What a mean, miserable person. Be gone, you have no power here.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/10/19 at 11:54pm

https://aviewfrommyseat.com

Type in your desired theater. Everyone calm down.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/11/19 at 2:19am

Thanks all--I needed a good laugh today.

Now, what's the best seat with unrestricted views of the male dressing rooms for any show?